Schuylkill natives bring history alive in Gettysburg

Former Auburn residents Frank and Bonnie Orlando greet visitors in the personas of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee during an event this fall at the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitors Center.

Ray Hinchey, Saint Clair native and licensed Gettysburg battlefield guide, points out the names of George, John and William Beaumont, all of Saint Clair, on the Pennsylvania 88th regimental plaque displayed on the Pennsylvania state monument at Gettysburg.

GETTYSBURG - Native and resident Schuylkill Countians can trace their ties to Gettysburg since the Adams County community was the site of the American Civil War's most iconic battle, July 1-3, 1863.

Today, two former county educators - Saint Clair native Ray Hinchey and former Auburn resident Frank Orlando - keep those ties alive. Hinchey, who taught at Saint Clair Area High School, is a licensed battlefield guide, and Orlando, who taught at Blue Mountain High School, and his wife, Bonnie, do interpretations of Gen. Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Anna Custis Lee, at various functions.

While always interested in history, Hinchey, who taught the subject, said his prime area of interest was World War II. Growing up, his most vivid memory of being interested in the Civil War was playing the Milton Bradley Co. board game.

"Even to this day, I don't consider myself a Civil War buff, but a Gettysburg buff," Hinchey said. "This battle fascinates me."

Like the two armies that fought in the conflict, the road that brought Hinchey to Gettysburg is filled with chance and circumstance. His journey began in 1994 when he offered to take his mother on a vacation trip and, much to his surprise, she asked him to take her to Gettysburg.

"That's how I came down here the first time," Hinchey said. "When we were out on Little Round Top, we were listening to a tour guide and my mother said to me that's something I should do.

"I thought about it, and asked what I had to do, and the first time I tried passed the written test, but failed the oral exam. It's really, really tough, but they told me to come back, and for the first time, I really connected with something.

"At first, I had doubts that maybe I just wasn't good enough or measure up, but I came back in '97 and passed both parts of the test. There are 130 questions, including six essays, in the written test, and 85 percent is the minimum passing grade, and the oral exam lasts two hours."

To qualify as a licensed battlefield guide, a thorough knowledge of the units and leaders of both the Union and Confederate armies is required, although guides are encouraged to develop an area of expertise. Because of several units that served in the Army of the Potomac were from Schuylkill County, most notably the Pennsylvania 96th, which was raised on Lawton's Hill, Hinchey is especially versed and informed on those from his native and surrounding counties.

Conversely, Orlando has held a long-standing fascination with the Civil War in general and the Army of Northern Virginia in particular since his high school days at Reading Central Catholic. He agrees it is somewhat ironic that after leaving Blue Mountain in 1971 for Mount Penn, the school district eventually changed its name to Antietam - the same as the creek where the South won one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles at Sharpsburg, Md., in 1862.

Over the years, Orlando and his wife made many trips to Gettysburg, and after he retired in 2008 began doing Civil War re-enacting as a captain in the 1st Virginia. It was during these living history events, because of his physical appearance, that some of the re-enactors began calling him "General Lee," which peaked his interest in researching the Confederate commander.

"Bonnie and I both began to research and study the lives of Gen. Lee and his wife and his philosophy, and I was surprised to discover I'm his exact height and weight," Orlando said. "We're always reading and cross-referencing facts and we've made quite a few appearances depicting them for more than a year. A lot of the speaking appearances we make are for Confederate groups, and when we speak, we make every attempt to say what they would have said. This is based on the letters and correspondence we've read, and the last thing we want to do is misrepresent a person with the reputation and importance of Robert E. Lee," he said.

"People are always trying to see if they can get you to step out of character, but we've really embraced this and enjoy the lifestyle, and even though I taught English, I always believed you have to understand the history of the times to fully understand the literature. In fact, our house down here is less than one-half mile from where the opening shots were fired at Gettysburg."

To maintain his status as a licensed, full-time guide, this year Hinchey must conduct a minimum of 175 total tours. These can be scheduled public bus tours, random bus tours or scheduled private tours by vehicle.

When doing a private vehicle tour, Hinchey prefers to drive so people can concentrate on his presentation and tours with specific guides can be requested, but it is best to make advance reservations. Tours during the fall and winter provide a unique perspective of the battlefield because the foliage is off the trees, providing an unobstructed view of the landscape.

Hinchey said that during the months of April and May he often guides seven days a week, although they are not full days, and has gone with just one free day during these months. Mid-week days are almost always less crowded - unless the anniversary of the battle falls on these days - than weekends, especially holiday weekends.

"I do get a lot of requests from people up home, and usually guide school groups from Pottsville and North Schuylkill every year," Hinchey said. "One funny experience I had was the time I was assigned to guide a school group from Pine Grove.

"Some of the students were wearing red-color jackets, so I asked the teachers about Ron Rhen and some of the other coaches from Pine Grove. Well, they had no idea what I was talking about because it turned out they were from either Maryland or Virginia. A lot of the family tours I do are with some of my former students, and that's something I enjoy. Also, some people taking private tours want to get an overview of the battle as it unfolded, but some of them want to focus on the units from their area."

One of interesting tidbits Hinchey related concerned the Beaumont brothers from Saint Clair, who served at Gettysburg with the 88th Pennsylvania. William was shot in the neck on the opening day of the battle and died July 13. John was captured during the battle, was later paroled, only to be killed during action at Petersburg, Va. George was wounded, survived the war, returned home to become a coal miner, but died in an 1868 mine accident.

"I've had groups from as far away as Japan, a group from Germany that served in Rommel's Afrika Korps during World War II and had been Allied prisoners of war," Hinchey said. "Once I was showing a group from London, England, the bullet holes and shells that are still embedded in some of the home in town, and later thought to myself they probably weren't too impressed, considering they had lived through the blitz during World War II.

Hinchey has been giving tours for 13 years, and usually does more than 400 tours a year.

"There hasn't been one day that I didn't get up and feel like going to work. It's so much fun to interact with the people, and I like that there are no scripts. As a tour guide, we've expected to present the facts, but we can inject our personality. If we have an opinion, we're allowed to present our point of view, as long as we make it clear that it's our personal interpretation," he said.

It is that personal touch that Hinchey and the Orlandos bring to their presentation that literally brings the battle of Gettysburg and history alive.

For information on tours of the Gettysburg battlefield with Ray Hinchey, e-mail him at rhinchey@yahoo.com or call 717-337-3136. For information on appearances by Gen. Robert E. Lee and Mrs. Mary Anna Custis Lee, e-mail Frank and Bonnie Orlando at baoorg@yahoo.com or call 717-337-2199.

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